What's Up With the Paines?

I wanted to share some photos of the kids -----> they are literally growing so fast! And then I remembered this old blog where I used to post stuff. I'm a little rusty on how this works, but here goes!

Allie began 1st grade this year, and was enjoying her math work on this particular day.

Rowan is doing preschool now, and loves activities that involve play dough!

Silas' teacher took this picture during his first week of 3rd grade.

We adopted a kitten (the second time this summer, but the first kitten went
to live with my parents) and named him Cole. He and Rusty became tentative friends. 

One week when our science unit was on flowers, Allie got an edible flower for lunch.

Rowan's edible flower.

The kids love playing with these pattern blocks,
and make some amazing designs!

We rolled some flower petals in water to make colored liquid.

In late September we did the Walk-for-Life to support the Pregnancy Resource Clinic.
Nate and the kids ran across the finish line and someone snapped this photo for their website.

Our beach vacation to Ocean City, NJ in mid-September.

Silas had a blast in the ocean all week. He barely left the water's edge. 

Some days were chilly and windy thanks to Hurricane Jose, 

but we got several beautiful beach days at the end of the week.

A family photo on the boardwalk during the hurricane 

(thankfully it went far out to sea and didn't cause too many problems).

It's the Last Day of School

It's hard to believe a whole school year has gone by already! When Silas started school last August, he did not have a little brother. Now Rowan is almost 8 months! So much can happen in a year.

Silas absolutely loved school this year. He had a great class with 7 other kids, and his teacher was wonderful. I think he'll miss the routine, and his friends from class. He has come a long way this year––he learned to write his first name, he can almost write his last name, he's learning his phone number, he can count by twos, fives and tens, he is even reading a few sight words! It's been exciting to see him learn and grow this year.

I recently took a couple photos while Silas waited for the bus. (Sometimes it takes the whole family to get Silas ready for the bus on-time.)

Silas' confidence has really grown this year.

Leo joins us on the porch every morning when Silas waits for the bus.

Allie had her show for the Little Gym on Monday. She showed off her "tricks," as she likes to call them. The audience clapped and cheered for each child as they did a performance on each piece of equipment. Allie did not have stage fright at all and did a great job using her skills to perform a little routine! I was so proud of her!

Allie's the cutest Funny Bug you ever saw!

She received a medal to commemorate her first year
at gymnastics, which she kept on most of the day.

Silas goes to kindergarten!

Silas' first day of kindergarten was an orientation day, so Allie and Mommy had the privilege of accompanying him to his classrooms and meeting his teachers. Allie got right into the swing of things, exploring the classroom and testing the equipment. I think everything met with her satisfaction!

Silas seemed to enjoy himself as well, and he settled into his two desks with no problem (one in homeroom, and one in his special-ed class where he'll spend most of his time). The next day, he took a school van all by himself for the actual first day, and did a great job of being a big boy! There was a few tears when Jen picked him up, but by the next day he was already doing much better.

Now we're two weeks in, and things are going well. We have Back to School night in a few days, so we'll get to talk with his two teachers and hopefully find out more about his typical day. We're also looking forward to transitioning Silas to a full day over the next few months. He'll get to experience lots of fun stuff, like art, music, gym, and eating lunch in the cafeteria!

Silas at his desk in his special ed class

Meeting his homeroom teacher

Drawing a picture to commemorate his first day

Silas' desk in homeroom

Allie wanted to try out the markers...

...and the scissors!

There was also a big school bus for us to explore.